1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an article of apparel, such as footwear, or the like, and to items which are of a nature to be commonly worn or carried by a person or pet. More specifically, the present invention relates to such an article which has an alarm circuit that can be covertly, selectively engaged by the wearer (or carrier thereof), or by one who has the legal right to act on behalf of the wearer (or carrier) of the item or article. In particular, the present invention relates to a modular circuit specifically adapted for use in combination with an article of attire, such as footwear, or other items which is worn or carried, and which is adapted to receive and retain the modular circuitry whereby the combination can be used to in selectively send a covert alarm signal to a remote monitoring location, with the covert alarm signal being encoded with the position of the wearer (or carrier) of the article.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, there have been other alarm devices designed for use with articles and apparel. Typically, though, such devices provided a “local” alarm, i.e., an alarm which employs an audio and/or visible signal to alert nearby persons of the wearer's need for assistance. One such device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,658,848 issued to Kalikow on Feb. 14, 1928 in which an electrical circuit connected to an audio alarm is activated upon the wearer stepping on a mat whereby conductive spikes in the wearer's shoe complete an alarm circuit. A similar device is described by Kalikow, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 1,771,258 which issued on Jul. 22, 1930.
Covert operation of alarm circuit is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,086 which issued to Riedo on Dec. 4, 1973 which describes an alarm apparatus in which a toe operated switch in an article of footwear is used to covertly activate a transmitter whereby an alarm circuit in a nearby receiver (i.e., a receiver within the range of transmission) is activated. Another toe switch is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,853 which issued to Ganyard, et al. on Sep. 21, 1982.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,598,272 which issued to Randall P. Cox on Jul. 1, 1986 describes a different type of alarm device suitable for use by a parent (or pet owner) for locating a child (or pet) in which the child or pet is equipped with a remotely operated audio alarm signaling device, while the parent or pet owned holds a transmitter which can remotely activate that audio alarm, so that it gives off a “raucous” signal, thereby enabling the parent or pet owner to locate the child or pet, so long as they are within range of the audible signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,259 issued to Musa on Sep. 17, 1996 describes a child-worn transmitter which is used in conjunction with a nearby parent-worn receiver to locate a child who is more than some preset distance from the parent. The parent-worn receiver includes a direction finder to assist in locating the nearby child.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,432 which issued to McCarthy on Nov. 12, 1996 describes an ankle and shoe covering device, which is quite apparent to anyone close by which issues an audible signal upon activation of alarm buttons by the wearer. While the patent also discusses transmitting a radio alarm signal, it describes no circuitry capable of so doing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,087 issued on May 5, 1998 to Ingargiola, et al. describes a system for keeping track of a nearby child or Alzheimer's patient. The system includes a pair of units, each having a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter of the child's (or patient's) unit transmits continuously. The observer's unit monitors that signal, and sends out a signal to the child's (or patient's) unit to cause that unit to provide audio and visual alarms should the child (or patient) wander too far away (e.g., when the signal strength of the child's, or patient's, transmitter decreases below a preset threshold). Alternatively, the observer can remotely initiate an alarm from the child's (or patient's) unit by transmitting a signal to that unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,905,461 which issued to Neher on May 18, 1999 describes a tracking system in which the tracked person wears a wristband device which includes a Global Positioning System (“GPS”) receiver. The device is mounted in a wristband which locks on the wearer's wrist, and which continuously transmits a location signal to a nearby relay station, which has the capability of further transmitting the wearer's location to a tracking satellite, for further relay to a monitoring station. Shortcomings of this system include both the “always on” feature, and the need for a very expensive, dedicated infrastructure (e.g., the relay stations and tracking satellites). The shortcomings of an “always on” system are that they have very limited battery life, and that they deprive the wearer of privacy. Further, anyone with an RF monitor can triangulate on the transmitter of an “always on” system, even if they cannot decode the signal being transmitted to get the GPS location information. Similar systems are also described b Neher in U.S. Pat. No. 6,362,778 which issued on Mar. 26, 2002 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,388,612 which issued on May 14, 2002.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,278,370s issued to Underwood on Aug. 21, 2001 addresses the need for a system which can be activated on demand, so as to conserve battery life, and it also addresses the need to use the existing infrastructure to locate someone who is in distress. Thus, Underwood describes the use of either an existing cellular phone system, or an existing low earth orbit satellite monitoring system to receive, and relay (to a monitoring location) a distress signal. However, Underwood fails to address a reliable means for locating the party transmitting the distress signal. Consequently, only a relative area (e.g., based on the location of the cell phone towers or the reception area of low earth orbit satellite) can be identified as the location of the party in distress. Obviously, if danger is imminent, or if the party is being abducted (and is in a moving vehicle), such generalized location data is not terribly helpful to those seeking to aid the party in distress, as Underwood does not teach anything about transmitting specific location data of the party in distress.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,788,200 issued to Jamel, et al. describes a GPS based system in which an “always on” module contained in an article of footwear continuously transmits the location of the wearer. As set forth above, the “always on” feature deprives the unit of extended battery life, and it deprives the wearer of privacy, as the wearer is unable to control who is monitoring his precise (e.g., GPS encoded) location, or his relative location (based on triangulation of the transmitted RF signal). Further, the apparatus described by Jamel, et al. lacks the ability to be worn in a covert manner in that it employs external clips to retain the electronics module and it also employs an antenna which is visibly mounted on the tongue of the footwear.
In that none of the foregoing art describes an article of footwear or other worn or carried item containing a GPS unit, together with a cellular phone module which can be selectively activated by the wearer (or carrier of the article) in a covert manner, the present inventor has heretofore filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/979,894, entitled FOOTWEAR COVERT ALARM AND LOCATOR APPARATUS on Nov. 1, 2004 to overcome those shortcomings of the prior art. As described therein, an electronics module could be covertly mounted in the sole of an article of footwear, such as an athletic shoe. The shoe described therein includes a covert activation switch, which the wearer can selectively press, to cause the module to encode its present location based on receiving a GPS signal which is then transmitted by included cellular phone circuitry to a remote monitoring location from which assistance can be dispatched. Unlike the other prior devices, the system described by the present inventor assures both extended battery life and user privacy by causing transmission of the user's location only upon selective activation of the alarm circuitry. Notwithstanding the benefits provided by the foregoing system, a major portion of the expense of the system is in the electronics module containing the GPS receiver, logic circuitry, and the cellular phone electronics.